Eastern New York to Host Five Competitions, Two of Them Brand-New, This Summer

Smithtown Arsenal winning the national championship last summer nearly two months after winning the State Open Cup in LaGrange

By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association

May 6, 2014-After a wonderful ODP College Showcase hosted by the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) on April 26 and 27 at Golden Goal Park in Fort Ann, we in Eastern New York are getting ready to host five other great events.

The State Open Cup finals will be played on May 31 and June 1 at Stringham Park in LaGrange. The champion teams advance to Regionals and the Regional champs go all the way to Nationals. The Smithtown Arsenal entered the 2013 State Open Cup and wound up as Boys-Under-16 national champions while the Dix Hills Elite made it all the way to the Boys-Under-15 national finals before losing to Santa Barbara White of California, 2-1, on an overtime penalty kick.

The Arch Capital Group Cup finals will be played on June 7 at the Peter Collins Soccer Park in Plainview. Unlike the State Open Cup, you need not be the best team in the state to win the Arch Capital Group Cup.

On June 14, the Eastern New York Premier League (ENYPL) finals will be held at Owl Hollow Fields on Staten Island. It’s the first time that the ENYPL finals will be played in one location.

The Eastern New York Champions Cup, a new competition, will be played on June 21––the boys will be playing at Stringham Park while the girls compete at Owl Hollow Fields. Champion teams from Division 1 from the Capital District Youth Soccer League, Cosmopolitan Junior Soccer League, East Hudson Youth Soccer League, Long Island Junior Soccer League, Staten Island Youth Soccer League and Westchester Youth Soccer League will be competing against one another in the Under-13, Under-14 and Under-15 age groups.

Finally, on August 16 and 17, Presidents Cup qualifiers will be played at the Three Village Soccer Park in Stony Brook and the Waverly Avenue Soccer Complex in Holtsville, on Long Island. For those travel teams not yet considered elite, the Presidents Cup offers an opportunity to play regional competition just like the State Open Cup does. This is the first year that Eastern New York is hosting a qualifying tournament.

“It’s a great deal of work on the part of our volunteers but we are very happy to host these competitions, two of which are brand-new in 2014,” commented Richard Christiano, President of the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association. “With these diverse competitions, every travel team in Eastern New York has an opportunity to become a champion this year.”

With 123,843 youth soccer players––68,587 boys and 55,256 girls––and more than 25,000 volunteers, the non-profit Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) stretches from Montauk Point, Long Island to the Canadian border. Members are affiliated with 11 leagues throughout the association, which covers the entire state of New York east of Route 81. ENYYSA exists to promote and enhance the game of soccer for children and teenagers between the ages of 5 and 19 years old, and to encourage the healthy development of youth players, coaches, referees and administrators. All levels of soccer are offered––from intramural, travel team and premier players as well as Special Children. No child who wants to play soccer is turned away. ENYYSA is a proud member of the United States Soccer Federation and United States Youth Soccer Association. For more information, please log on to http://www.enysoccer.com/, which receives nearly 300,000 hits annually from the growing soccer community.